Entrepreneurship Certificate

The Buerk Center’s certificate in entrepreneurship prepares University of Washington graduate and PhD students for the world of start-ups and new technology enterprises. Our emphasis on cross-campus involvement means you’ll take entrepreneurship courses alongside students from other disciplines, work with UW inventors on their market-ready applications, and have the opportunity to apply for fellowships in UW technology ventures or local angel funds. Certificate students, whose disciplines range from engineering and architecture to drama and medicine, take classes, gain real-world experience, and network with the region’s most innovative entrepreneurs. Working together, students bring ideas to life through entrepreneurship competitions and the Jones + Foster Accelerator. At completion of the TEC, students will receive a printed certificate as proof of successful completion. The individual ENTRE classes will show on your transcript but not the actual certificate.

Please note: This certificate is only open to currently enrolled, degree-seeking University of Washington graduate students. This is not a stand-alone certificate.

Students who have completed core classes may apply for these cross disciplinary opportunities:

ENTRE 600—Entrepreneurial Law Clinic (2 credits each quarter; you can take 1, 2, or 3 quarters of the clinic, but must start in autumn)

ENTRE 600—New Ventures Practicum (2 credits; offered every quarter except summer) These courses are by application only and the academic terms offered may vary.

Required Core (minimum of 14 credits)

ENTRE 509 Foundations of Entrepreneurship (2 credits) AUTUMN, SPRING: Five noted Seattle entrepreneurs will lead students through the steps, stages, trials and tribulations of starting a company—as only they can. Each and every one of them has been in the trenches, and survived. What’s more, these are people you’ll want to know as you head down the entrepreneurial path. The class will be a fast-paced overview of the entire company creation process and is designed to help you decide if entrepreneurship is the thing for you to pursue. Students will develop a model for a start-up and reflect on what they’ve learned weekly. (Instructors: Jacob Colker) OR ENTRE 530.

ENTRE 510 Entrepreneurial Strategy (4 credits) AUTUMN, WINTER: Start-ups are high-risk, high-return endeavors, and although there are notable examples of wealth creation, failure is the norm. This course uses competitive strategy to analyze the success and failure of entrepreneurial ventures and identifies the strategic principles that could increase the probability of success. (Instructor: David Tan)

ENTRE 557/FIN 557 Entrepreneurial Finance (4 credits) AUTUMN, WINTER, From the start of a new venture, entrepreneurs have financial decisions to make. They need to understand venture capital markets, stages of financing, business cash-flow models, measuring early-stage financial performance, and how to prepare financially for a successful placement. In this course, students will examine the elements of a term sheet, learn how to value early-stage companies, discuss compensation issues, make presentations to angel investors and venture capital groups, and learn to manage the finances of a new venture. (Instructor: Lance Young)

ENTRE 540 Business Plan Practicum/Resource Nights (2 credits) WINTER, (2 credits) SPRING*: Winter: This class brings in experts from the local entrepreneurial community to teach various aspects of creating a startup venture, from idea generation to legal issues to raising capital. It is a great way to prepare for the Buerk Center’s UW Business Plan Competition (BPC), Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challenge (EIC), and the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge (HIC). Students do not have to take the Resource Nights for credit in order to compete in the BPC, nor are students required to compete if they take the class. Credit/no credit only. (Instructor: John Zagula)* Spring: This is not a class. Students are eligible to receive 2 credits if their team advances to the BPC Investment Round.

ENTRE 541 Technology Commercialization (4 credits) WINTER: Thousands of patents for innovative technologies are granted each year, yet only a fraction of them reach the market as products. Turning a technology into a compelling product—and bringing that product successfully to market—is the opportunity of technology commercialization. Through lectures, case studies, and guest speakers, this course provides students with hands-on experience building and presenting a commercialization plan for an innovative new technology. (Instructor: Ken Myer)

ENTRE 542 Venture Capital Investment Practicum (2 credits) AUTUMN: This course provides an overview of the venture capital world. Though the capstone of the class is the Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC), the curriculum is more broadly designed to provide students with the necessary tools to evaluate early-stage investment opportunities. The class is interactive and integrative, featuring speakers who are entrepreneurs, VCs, earl-stage attorneys and prior VCIC competitors. The VCIC is a national strategy competition for venture-minded, entrepreneurial grad students. Student teams assume the role of a venture capital firm and are given a hypothetical fund to invest and has 48 hours to evaluate bona fide business plans before making investment decisions. Teams then defend their allocation decisions before a judging panel of VCs from firms. Credit/no credit. (Instructor: Diane Legg)

ENTRE 543 Environmental Innovation Practicum (2 credits) AUTUMN: Unique interdisciplinary course focuses on what it takes to develop innovative clean-tech solutions to our most pressing environmental challenges and creating exciting new business opportunities along the way. Weekly speakers include top national, international and local experts in natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, business, entrepreneurial finance, policy and law. Topics include alternative energy and energy efficiencies, green building, and transportation. (Instructor: Deb Hagen-Lukens)

ENTRE 545 Health Innovation Practicum (2 credits) AUTUMN: This class teaches the mechanics of taking a promising healthcare solution from inception to commercialization. Topics will revolve around the big problem areas, biodesign processes, and the health innovation pipeline, including issues related to intellectual property, company formation, healthcare markets and reimbursement, and the medical regulatory process. This is a precursor to the Buerk Center’s Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge on March 1, 2018. (Instructors: Emer Dooley and Dr. Sam Browd)

ENTRE 579 Angel Investing (4 credits) AUTUMN, (2 credits) WINTER, & (2 credits) SPRING: (by application) In this multi-quarter venture investing course you will learn about entrepreneurship and venture investing by participating in angel investor groups and making actual angel investments. This class is limited to 12-14 students. Entry into the course is competitive and requires instructor approval, and the class is a commitment of the whole academic year starting autumn quarter. (Instructor: Susannah Malarkey)

ENTRE 579 Grand Challenges for Entrepreneurs (4 credits) WINTER: Grand Challenges for Entrepreneurs is a new course for business students, geeks, and other undergraduates who want to do something out of the ordinary. The world faces some extraordinary challenges in innovation, big data, food and water, energy, education, careers, poverty, etc. This course will explore those grand challenges—and the opportunities that come with them. Students will examine how solutions to these massive challenges can be researched, validated, and implemented using entrepreneurial creativity, opportunity recognition, business models, pivoting, and skilled execution. (Instructor: Emily Pahnke)

ENTRE 579/BIOE 505 Biomedical Entrepreneurship (4 credits) WINTER: This course introduces to students the concepts and methodologies important for the commercialization of medical technologies such as implants, diagnostics and therapeutics. Medical technologies, in contrast to other engineering technologies, have unique funding, regulatory and market requirements and these specialized ideas are the foundation of the course. Specific science and engineering knowledge are not required for this course—science and technology ideas will be introduced as appropriate. We also seek to build potential commercialization teams in the medical device space. Through a combination of lectures and guest lectures from local and national experts, we cover aspects of the following topics specific to medical technology: market analysis, regulations, funding strategies, reimbursement strategies, FDA standards, patents, business-plan development, and productization. Graded. (Instructor: Dr. Buddy Ratner)

ENTRE 600 New Ventures Practicum (2 credits each quarter) AUTUMN, WINTER, & SPRING: (by application) Students work on technology commercialization projects from CoMotion with assistance and comprehensive mentoring from technology managers, Northwest entrepreneurs, UW researchers, and venture investors. For the duration of a quarter, students perform a variety of tasks that range from producing a plan for future industry application, market analysis, or licensing opportunities. Credit/no credit.

ENTRE 600 Entrepreneurial Law Clinic (2 credits) AUTUMN start, WINTER, SPRING: (by application) The Law School and the Buerk Center produce an Entrepreneurial Law Clinic, providing very early-stage technology entrepreneurs with both legal and business consulting services. The student teams include law students (with specialties in intellectual property, tax, and corporate securities) and second-year entrepreneurship MBAs to conduct legal audits and business due diligence. Credit/no credit. (Director: Jennifer Fan)

MKTG 510 New Product Development (4 credits) SPRING: This course integrates business, design, and engineering functions in the presentation and application of structures, tools, and methodologies important for successful new product development. Projects have a cross-functional team emphasis. (Instructor: Tom Giordano)

Application and Registration information

The Technology Entrepreneurship Certificate (TEC) is open to all UW Seattle graduate and PhD students from a variety of disciplines such as engineering, medicine, law, built environments, forestry, pharmacology, and public administration. It will take a minimum of three quarters to complete the TEC, and we recommend leaving three to five quarters to complete the coursework.

Please Note: UW graduate students who are in a Professional Master’s Program degree or certificate program, pay tuition through the Professional & Continuing Education (PCE) program, and are in a fee-for-service or tuition-based program, need to contact their home program advisor to determine the cost PCE will charge their student to take ENTRE classes.

Application

Registration

Once accepted into the program, students receive priority registration for Entre classes. The day before registration opens, instructions are emailed to students. Seats are issued on a first-come, first-served basis. View the MBA Registration Calendar for upcoming deadlines. Email mbaregis@uw.edu with inquiries.

Students who have completed core classes may apply for these cross disciplinary opportunities:

ENTRE 600—Entrepreneurial Law Clinic (2 credits each quarter; you can take 1, 2, or 3 quarters of the clinic, but must start in autumn)ENTRE 600—New Ventures Practicum (2 credits; offered every quarter except summer) These courses are by application only and the academic terms offered may vary.

Required Core (minimum of 14 credits)

ENTRE 509 Foundations of Entrepreneurship (2 credits) AUTUMN, SPRING: Five noted Seattle entrepreneurs will lead students through the steps, stages, trials and tribulations of starting a company—as only they can. Each and every one of them has been in the trenches, and survived. What’s more, these are people you’ll want to know as you head down the entrepreneurial path. The class will be a fast-paced overview of the entire company creation process and is designed to help you decide if entrepreneurship is the thing for you to pursue. Students will develop a model for a start-up and reflect on what they’ve learned weekly. (Instructors: Jacob Colker) OR ENTRE 530.

ENTRE 510 Entrepreneurial Strategy (4 credits) AUTUMN, WINTER: Start-ups are high-risk, high-return endeavors, and although there are notable examples of wealth creation, failure is the norm. This course uses competitive strategy to analyze the success and failure of entrepreneurial ventures and identifies the strategic principles that could increase the probability of success. (Instructor: David Tan)

ENTRE 530 Entrepreneurial Decision Making (4 credits) WINTER: Provides an overview of the major decisions entrepreneurs face when creating a business. Covers the startup lifecycle from idea generation, opportunity recognition, entry strategy, growth, and exit strategy. Various business models will be discussed to include high-tech, retail, franchising, and e-commerce, to name a few. (Instructor: Diane Legg) OR ENTRE 509

ENTRE 557/FIN 557 Entrepreneurial Finance (4 credits) AUTUMN, WINTER, From the start of a new venture, entrepreneurs have financial decisions to make. They need to understand venture capital markets, stages of financing, business cash-flow models, measuring early-stage financial performance, and how to prepare financially for a successful placement. In this course, students will examine the elements of a term sheet, learn how to value early-stage companies, discuss compensation issues, make presentations to angel investors and venture capital groups, and learn to manage the finances of a new venture. (Instructor: Lance Young)

ENTRE 540 Business Plan Practicum/Resource Nights (2 credits) WINTER, (2 credits) SPRING* Winter description: The Resource Nights give student entrepreneurs the opportunity to network with the founders/CEOs of companies, explore their entrepreneurial aptitude, and work through the details of their own start-ups. Provides structure, tools, and resources to start of company, and to compete in the UW Business Plan Competition (BPC). Students do not have to take the Resource Nights for credit in order to compete in the BPC. Credit/no credit only. (Instructor: John Zagula) Spring: This is not a class. Students are eligible to receive 2 credits if their team advances to the BPC Investment Round. *[spring qtr. is not a class]

ENTRE 541 Technology Commercialization (4 credits) WINTER: Thousands of patents for innovative technologies are granted each year, yet only a fraction of them reach the market as products. Turning a technology into a compelling product—and bringing that product successfully to market—is the opportunity of technology commercialization. Through lectures, case studies, and guest speakers, this course provides students with hands-on experience building and presenting a commercialization plan for an innovative new technology. (Instructor: Ken Myer)

ENTRE 542 Venture Capital Investment Practicum (2 credits) AUTUMN: This course provides an overview of the venture capital world. Though the capstone of the class is the Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC), the curriculum is more broadly designed to provide students with the necessary tools to evaluate early-stage investment opportunities. The class is interactive and integrative, featuring speakers who are entrepreneurs, VCs, earl-stage attorneys and prior VCIC competitors. The VCIC is a national strategy competition for venture-minded, entrepreneurial grad students. Student teams assume the role of a venture capital firm and are given a hypothetical fund to invest and has 48 hours to evaluate bona fide business plans before making investment decisions. Teams then defend their allocation decisions before a judging panel of VCs from firms. Credit/no credit. (Instructor: Diane Legg)

ENTRE 543 Environmental Innovation Practicum (2 credits) AUTUMN: Unique interdisciplinary course focuses on what it takes to develop innovative clean-tech solutions to our most pressing environmental challenges and creating exciting new business opportunities along the way. Weekly speakers include top national, international and local experts in natural sciences, engineering, social sciences, business, entrepreneurial finance, policy and law. Topics include alternative energy and energy efficiencies, green building, and transportation. (Instructor: Deb Hagen-Lukens)

ENTRE 545 Health Innovation Practicum (2 credits) AUTUMN: This class teaches the mechanics of taking a promising healthcare solution from inception to commercialization. Topics will revolve around the big problem areas, biodesign processes, and the health innovation pipeline, including issues related to intellectual property, company formation, healthcare markets and reimbursement, and the medical regulatory process. This is a precursor to the Buerk Center’s new Health Innovation Challenge scheduled for March 2016. (Instructors: Dr. Sam Browd and Emer Dooley)

ENTRE 579/BIOE 505 Biomedical Entrepreneurship (4 credits) WINTER: This course introduces to students the concepts and methodologies important for the commercialization of medical technologies such as implants, diagnostics and therapeutics. Medical technologies, in contrast to other engineering technologies, have unique funding, regulatory and market requirements and these specialized ideas are the foundation of the course. Specific science and engineering knowledge are not required for this course—science and technology ideas will be introduced as appropriate. We also seek to build potential commercialization teams in the medical device space. Through a combination of lectures and guest lectures from local and national experts, we cover aspects of the following topics specific to medical technology: market analysis, regulations, funding strategies, reimbursement strategies, FDA standards, patents, business-plan development, and productization. Graded. (Instructor: Dr. Buddy Ratner)

ENTRE 579 Grand Challenges for Entrepreneurs (4 credits) WINTER: Grand Challenges for Entrepreneurs is a new course for business students, geeks, and other undergraduates who want to do something out of the ordinary. The world faces some extraordinary challenges in innovation, big data, food and water, energy, education, careers, poverty, etc. This course will explore those grand challenges—and the opportunities that come with them. Students will examine how solutions to these massive challenges can be researched, validated, and implemented using entrepreneurial creativity, opportunity recognition, business models, pivoting, and skilled execution. (Instructor: Emily Pahnke)

ENTRE 600 New Ventures Practicum (2 credits each quarter) AUTUMN, WINTER, & SPRING: (by application) Students work on technology commercialization projects from CoMotion with assistance and comprehensive mentoring from technology managers, Northwest entrepreneurs, UW researchers, and venture investors. For the duration of a quarter, students perform a variety of tasks that range from producing a plan for future industry application, market analysis, or licensing opportunities. Credit/no credit.

ENTRE 600 Entrepreneurial Law Clinic (2 credits) AUTUMN: (by application) The Law School and the Buerk Center produce an Entrepreneurial Law Clinic, providing very early-stage technology entrepreneurs with both legal and business consulting services. The student teams include law students (with specialties in intellectual property, tax, and corporate securities) and second-year entrepreneurship MBAs to conduct legal audits and business due diligence. Credit/no credit. (Director: Jennifer Fan)

MKTG 510 New Product Development (4 credits) SPRING: This course integrates business, design, and engineering functions in the presentation and application of structures, tools, and methodologies important for successful new product development. Projects have a cross-functional team emphasis. (Instructor: Tom Giordano)